Govt to continue hiring foreign consultants

Putrajaya to continue hiring international consulting firms for national matters despite criticism of fund wastage.

KUALA LUMPUR: The government will continue hiring international consultants for national matters despite the opposition’s criticism that it is a waste of public funds.

Minister in Prime Minister’s Department Shahidan Kassim said this responding to Gombak MP Azmin Ali’s concern over Putrajaya’s spending of RM20 million to hire an international consultancy firm with little education expertise to draft the National Educational Blueprint (NEB) 2013-2025.

“The federal Opposition must understand that the reason the government hired international consultants was to gain international expertise,” Shahidan told the Dewan Rakyat today.

“In this aspect, the government will continue to hire international consulting firms for national matters,” he added.

Azmin who was present, retorted saying that the government for wasting public funds, and stressed that there were “a lot of capable civil servants” who could contribute significantly to national matters if given the chance.

“Instead of using international consultants, why not use the expertise and skills of civil servants to express the views and concerns of the nation?” the PKR deputy president asked.

He added it was more significant for local expertise to deal with national matters, as they were exposed to local issues first-hand.

In response, Shahidan said the government had in fact consulted with local experts over the matter (Education Blueprint), and they (experts) agreed with hiring international consultants for a more comprehensive Blueprint.

“In fact, they (local experts) had also contributed to the Blueprint. So it has the best of both worlds,” Shahidan said.

Following the launch of the NEB in September, DAP’s Serdang MP Ong Kian Ming had also slammed the government’s spending of RM20 million to hire an international consultancy firm with little education expertise to draft the Blueprint, saying that it was a complete waste of money.

Ong said the appointment of Mckinsey does not make sense because the firm has little expertise in the education field, and the government has more capable personnel who are able to undertake the task of preparing the blueprint.

In a written statement in Parliament, the Ministry of Education stated that payment was divided into Phase 1, totaling RM4.7 million and phase 2, totaling additional RM15 million.